TFO Rods :: TiCr & Professional Series

Awesome

Chris, does this program offer TFO products at a discount to members, or is it informational only, or is it to offer "loaners" for field tests or?? I have heard nothing but awesome reports on the TFO bad boyz...right now I'm looking for something fast and wicked for a saltwater SRC/Salmon rod so I can launch some ugly hairy flies into the drink.

If one was to come and use one of thoses rods how long could one use it before one has to bring it back. Am interested in a TFO 4wt 4 piece I already have the reel that I can use loaded with WF 4. And I can pick it up at a moments notice. It's just about a short 70 mile drive from me to you. But what the hey,I have to spend my money on something and it might as well be gas.

Jim

Check the "Whats available and how to get them thread right above. It gives all the info and even a calendar to see when it is available. It s easy check it out.
Blessings
Jesse clark

Mingo, how can I guy get a copy of that photo you use for your avatar? Nice flies. :thumb: Seriously, though, I need something to post up on my tying board rod inspiration. :thumb:

The TFO sticks are awesome. I have a rod from each of their rod lines (yep, I'm a gear-aholic), from 5 weight to 10 weight. If you're looking for a fast and wicked stick for saltwater, I would recommend the TiCr-X. They are very similar in looks and action to the Sage Xi2 and the Scott S3S rods, at less than 1/2 the price of the others. These TiCr-X rods are guns!

Try 'em, you'll like 'em. I live in the Northgate area, and I have a TiCr-X in the 5 weight and 8 weight, and you're welcome to try them out if you want.

Just picked up a ticr-x 10 wt. way too sweeeeeeeeeeetttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just bought a TFO pro series rod, (5 wt) about 3 weeks ago.
It is really really really awsome. <-- (professional critique) Finnaly someone cuts through all the elitist BS and makes a great rod affordable.

Well I got one of the professional series rods to try out,a 4 wt 9'. I am impressed with the rod. It casts as nice as my GL3 5wt. And I think that I will have one of my own by Fathers Day. I would like to thank Chris for have this loaner rod thingy to play with. I'll bring it back if I can get it out of my hands. And can afford the gas to get there.

Thank's again Chris. :thumb:

Jim

Now if I can just get my hands on the TiCr. :hmmm:

heh heh.........I'll update my avatars from time to time to keep you inspired .....always good to keep things fresh......

The TFO sticks are intriguing, I have not yet cast one but if I get one it'll be the TICRx 6 weight. I have a GL3 6 that I absolutely love ( I added a black foam fighting butt to it for those "special moments"). The TFO felt a little heavy to me in the shop but I've heard nothing but great things about them, your testimony adds to the plus side of things for sure. the 6 seems like a great pink rod too but since I have GL3 6 and 7 wts I have that niche filled out pretty well. I gotta cast a TFO some time.......

I just finished up my trial of the TiCr 4wt. I took it out 3-4 times on a local lake.

I was immediately impressed by the quality of the fit and finish. I really like the matt black finish and graphite reel seat. The cork handle was top quality. The alignment dots made setting up the 4 peice rod quick and simple.

The rod felt great in my hand. Just a little heavier and not quite as crisp\fast as the Sage XP I was also reviewing at the time. I showed both rods to some old time fly fishers who had never heard of TFO before. The first guy loved both rods, but seemed to prefer the XP. The second guy felt the XP was 'too fast' and fell in love with the TFO. Both men were quite shocked at the price gap between these two nice rods...

I wish I could have spent a day (or several) casting the rod on a river or stream with a combo of dries, nymphs, and streamers so I could really get a feel for it. But as it was, I had to stick to a close by lake. I ended up fishing the TFO with a sink tip most of the time. It handled the tip nicely and could really shoot out line when asked. Just for kicks, I did cast dries from the shore on both rods for a side by side comparison. They performed almost equally under my abilities - with the XP just slightly edging out the TFO on line pick up and distance. If I were in the market for a nice stick, I don't think I could justify the price tag of the XP and the slightly better performance over TFO. It's an all around performer, functional, looks and feels good, reports of good customer service and excellent warranty give confidence, and the price is right

I had the 6wt to demo for a few days last week and only had the chance to fish it for a morning at a North Seattle beach for sea-run coastal cutthroat. It was windy with a chop, but the rod threw as much line as I could fish in those conditions. I lined it with a 7wt clear intermediate, which worked well.
The action was fast but not too fast, not like the very fast saltwater rods that feel like sticks to me.

I completely agree with Chad's assessment. I was very favorably impressed with the appearance and feel of the rod. I can be a gear snob, and in fact have been thinking about a new Sage XP, but I will probably by the TiCR instead. I can't really compare the two in terms of distance and accuracy - I'm not good enough to appreciate any difference anyway. Amazing rod for $200 bucks. Wish they made a 9'6" model.

I am curious about the difference between the TiCR line and the TiCRx - I thought it was just cosmetics. Is the TiCRx a faster rod?

Thanks, Chris, for the opportunity to try the rod. Mark

just bought a tfo pro 10 ft. 4 wt from www. the lower forty.com for $100. when i opened the box the rod was a 5 piece rod not the 4 piece that i bought. we will see what kind of a warranty tfo has as i am sending the rod back in the a.m.. my son and i cast a few of the rods at the ennis festival last fall and we were both impressed. will get back on the warranty. mike w

I pried the TFO PRO 4 wt from Old Man's hands long enough to get a couple day trial on the river over the weekend on 6/10/05. I can see why he has been on his best behavior lately to line one up as his Father's Day gift. :thumb:

Given the price range I was ready to give it some slack compared to high end rods I have or have tried, but I was pleasantly surprised. The rod is a solid piece of workmanship and casts extremely well. I had it loaded with WF 5 F line and it literally flicked out 50 foot casts without effort. It is a rod I wish I would have had when I started to learn how to cast, as its strong suit is its nice control; but it also has enough backbone to allow you to really lean into the wind as needed.

Don't expect whistles and bells for hardware, that is how they got the price down so low. TFO must be looking at getting a market share with their pricing before they start charging what the rod is really worth as a quality rod compared to the market at large.

TFO thoughtfully has alignment dots to put the 4 pieces together more quickly, something the high end manufacturers still have yet to figured out ($720 and they still ignore putting alignment dots on the rod!). If you put some higher end hardware on it and pretty wood seats to go with the quality blank, wrap and finish you would easily have a rod worth triple the retail price. At $139.95, it is a steal. I hope its not to late to line one up for my Father’s Day present. I understand why Lefty Kregh allowed his name to be put on the product

I Demo'd the TFO 6wt Pro Rod. It was still in the plastic when Chris let me take it out for a guided trip with Jack Mitchell of The Evening Hatch on the Yakima 8/16.

I was very impressed with the finish - graphite reel seat, black mat finish, the dots, like all the other guys have said. I agree whole heartedly iagree I found the Rod to be VERY powerful and FAST action.

My regular rod is a 5wt Winston BIIx which cast very different (smooth and slower) I tried a large Dave's Hopper and the TFO handled the wind gust very well. We ended up rigging the TFO with a nice NYMPH set up and it was great for casting those awkward clunky line rigs - double nymph and strike indicator... After spending close to $600 on my rod, it was nice to see the quality and refreshing price of this TFO. I am thinking of tagging my Wintson with some of those nice alignment dots! I would rate this rod a 4 out of 5. I would love to try an 8wt and a 3wt, as those will be my next 2 purchases for my Rod Arsenal!

Also, Chris' place was very convenient just off of I-90. If you guys (or gals) are going over the Pass, you should definately take advantage of the WFF gear program. Thanks Chris!! :beer2: :thumb:

Jason Decker

fishwhipped - sorry, just saw your Q about the differences between the TICR and TICRX models. Yes - the TICRX model is definitely a faster rod. They are both nice rods, my personal favorite is the TICR - but you should really cast both as its really a personal preference.

Since my 6 wt was in the shop I tried out the TFO Pro Rod: 6wt 9', on the humpies in the salt water from the beach. It casted well, and I landed quite a few on the rod. Overall, a nice casting rod, and performed in line with the above comments by others. I liked the TFO Pro 4wt enough that I bought one, and the 6wt performs consistent within the Pro series.

It was a little over matched for the bigger pinks; I could have used either a higher weight, or probably the TICRx 6 weight, being a faster rod, might have given me the stronger backbone to be able to better control the larger fish, and allowed me to throw longer casts, too. I will need to try out the TICRx which is probably better designed for what I was using the PRO for. The PRO 6wt would be well suited for throwing streamers to trout or big flies on moderately windy days on the Yakima. I would not use it for summer run or big browns. Overall, a great value for the money.

Thanks for setting up the gear program, Chris. It's been instructive, and a lot of fun, to be able to try out a manufacturer's rods in a variety of weights and models to get a feel for what the maker is trying to do.

I realize it's been a long time since you made this post, but . . .

The 6 weight TICR and the TiCr-X are heavy, relatively, for 6 weights, because they use the same fighting butt and reel seat combo as are used on their larger weight rods. However, TFO now offers the TiCr-X "light", which has no fighting butt and a lighter reel seat assembly. I've seen some of those lightweight foam fighting butts; add one of those to the X light, and you'll have an inexpensive Xi2 look-a-like that performs about as well.

Also, I just cast this past weekend the new TiCr-X 7 weight; yow, now this is the quitessential Puget Sound beach rod! If you're looking for one rod to do it all, this thing would handle pretty much in the Sound. But don't tell my wife, 'cuz I don't want her to get any ideas about me selling my sticks . . . :thumb:

Richard,
What line were you casting with on that TicrX 7 weight......Is it a good rod to upline one weight?

LOL.........I just point at the shoe collection in the walk in closet.......I'm usually told to get more geat at that point!

On a related note, I picked up a Redington CPS 9 wt. Sweeeeeeeet stick......I'm going to gear her up with a multi tip line. Wild how it only weighs 3.7 oz.....a full 1.1 ounces lighter than the TICRx 6 wt! It feels like a 5 wt in the hand..............

TFO rods are pretty cool stuff, no doubt about it.....